AP 09/11 20:05 EDT V0043
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pat Buchanan brought 2,000 Christian
conservatives to their feet Saturday with a fiery defense of the
Republican Party's antiabortion stance and a vow to rebuff GOP
moderates and never "raise a white flag in the cultural war."
It was Buchanan and his audience of Christian Coalition activists
that moderates blamed for George Bush's defeat last year, but the
parade of 1996 GOP presidential prospects at the weekend meeting was a
testament to the Christian right's strength in Republican politics.
The weekend session also was the first test of the Christian
Coalition's pledge to diversify from its traditional social agenda, and
the sessions demonstrated the challenges of fulfilling that goal
without alienating the religious conservative movement's core
supporters.
From Buchanan's reception, for example, it was clear the Christian
activists are energized most by conservative cultural issues.
"If a political party would turn its back on the 4,000 unborn
children doomed to death every day in this country then it is time to
found a new party," Buchanan said, prompting a standing ovation. "We
are a pro-life party and we are going to keep our party pro-life."
The conservative commentator, who mounted an unsuccessful primary
challenge to Bush last year, won rousing applause again with an attack
on "multiculturalism," scoffing at those who say the world's many
cultures are equal.
"Our culture is superior," Buchanan said. "Our culture is superior
because our religion is Christianity and that is the truth that makes
men free."
It is such talk that moderates claim gave Republicans an intolerant
image last year and drove many suburban middle-class voters away. "It
cost us the election," said Elsie Hillman, a moderate Republican
National Committee member from Pennsylvania.
Hillman's was a common view among Republicans after the election,
and even many conservatives said their movement needed a softer image.
But eight months into the Clinton administration, many Christian
conservatives are more optimistic, believing they have gained strength
thanks to Clinton.
Still, not all of the GOP presidential prospects were as eager as
Buchanan to plunge into the party's internal debate over abortion and
other social issues.
In speeches Friday, Sens. Bob Dole of Kansas and Phil Gramm of Texas
focused on economics and health care.
"We don't need any litmus tests in the Republican Party," was as
close as Dole came to talking about the abortion debate. "We need to
learn to focus on the big picture," was Gramm's indirect reference.
Former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp, speaking Saturday night, said it
is a "false choice" to pit social conservatives against economic
conservatives.
But there is no debate on that point among the conservative
Christian. And Kemp, in a rambling speech in which he at one point
discussed the Greek and Latin sources of the word "economics," skirted
any direct reference to moderates or the abortion feud.
Buchanan showed no such reluctance and was by far the best received
of the four. "We cannot raise a white flag in the cultural war because
that war is who we are," he said.